My “why”…meet Gabby and Colten.

Gabby is my sister, and Colten is my brother in law who was in my life from the time I was only ten years old. Colten was diagnosed almost four years ago with an aggressive cancer called “Ewings Sarcoma”.

To sum up an incredibly sad, painful story; when he was first diagnosed, we all thought that he was going to survive it. After about a year of radiation and aggressive chemotherapy treatment, we all had thought that he was on his way to recovery, until we later found out that he had Ewings Sarcoma tumors in his brain as well, which now made this cancer terminal. Gabby and Coltens life went from hoping and dreaming of their future…to enjoying their last years together, to enjoying their last months, to enjoying their last weeks, to enjoying their last moments.

I am incredibly lucky that throughout that time, I got to capture little glimpses into what their love looked like. The love that kept Colten here for as long as it did, and the love that still lives on within all of us.

After Colten passed, the photos that I took of these two have absolutely changed the way I view what I do, and reignited a passion that I didn’t know even existed within me until he passed.

You see, when our loved ones face the inevitable fate of death…all that we have left…to give us even the slightest glimpse of their beautiful being that we miss so deeply in the trenches of grief, are photos of them.

Through immense grief, I have been lucky to have beautiful, high quality photos of Colten that I’ve taken throughout the years to hold close when all I want is to feel his physical presence.

Of course, photos will never measure up to someones physical presence, but when you can’t have their presence…they keep his memory alive. The love between Gabby and him is remembered and felt through a single picture.

One day, photos are going to be all you have left of this time of your life. So take the damn photos. And don’t take a single second with your loved ones for granted.

#fuckcancer